Yesterday we took on Ex Students in all grades, which was the end of the home and away season for us, with a bye in the last round. Unfortunately, I’m in a seven day isolation period, so for the first time in as long as I can remember, I didn’t see any Imperials action live, although I did stumble across the A Grade game on YouTube, so saw the final five overs or so.

In A & B Grade, we were soundly beaten in both Grades, which is no great surprise, given Ex Students dominance in both Grades over the last decade. Rather than delve into the runs/wickets/circumstances of both games, I thought I would discuss the efforts of the playing group this season.

As mentioned previously, last off season could not have gone much worse, with us losing 7 members from an A Grade side that finished bottom of the ladder the previous season. As a Committee Member, I had huge concerns about the quality of A Grade side we would put out, and in a worst case scenario, whether we would even be able to field an A Grade side. Thanks to the sacrifices the entire playing group made, then not only were we able to field three Senior teams each week, but the efforts of our A Grade side far exceeded any expectations I had for this season.

A large portion of the playing group assisted the Club greatly by playing higher Grades than they originally thought they would play. For example, players like Dean Campbell and Daniel Elms probably started the season thinking they would play C Grade, but ended up playing most of the season in A Grade. Players like Rossy, who thought he would probably continue on as B Grade Captain again, but ended up playing every game in A Grade, and may potentially win the League Bowling Aggregate. Players like Size, who at 46, still played every game in A Grade, and also opened the batting and took on the new ball.

There are numerous other examples I could give, but I and the other Committee Members are eternally grateful for the sacrifices a lot of players made to their own game for the betterment of the Club. In A Grade, we finished the season with two wins, which could have easily been 3 or 5 wins, with some very close losses. More important than the win-loss total, we were far more competitive than we internally might have thought, and certainly far better than the rest of the league expected us to be, with most expecting us to be winless and uncompetitive. Playing a season of purely one day cricket certainly helped with selection, meaning the B & C Grade players that went into A Grade didn’t have to field for 80 overs. Hopefully this continues next season, given the uncertainty that COVID presents.

We were also able to give A Grade experience to some of our younger players, such as Boschy, Twitey and Lachy Rickwood, and we were helped by new recruits to the Club like Ishan and Sam Morey, who came in and played some quality cricket in A Grade. Overall, the A’s should be immensely proud of their efforts this season.

A lot of credit for A Grade efforts should go to Witchy, who in his first season as our A Grade Captain, did a fantastic job, which belied his lack of experience in the role. Witchy will be looking to enhance his cricketing experience, with a season in England. The Club has tried to find a Senior Coach externally for several season, and we finally had success this off season, appointing Lee Farley to the role, and alongside Witchy, can take some of the credit for A Grade’s results this season.

The B Grade team had a difficult season, with a vastly different side each week, with the constants being veterans 9ers and Dash, and Keira Morley, who were the only players who played over six games in the B’s for the season. Amazingly, we used 35 players for the season in B Grade, which is a huge amount of turnover each week. Late in the season we were able to blood some young players like Liam Bermingham and Ashlyn Murtagh, with 13 year old Liam opening the bowling the last few weeks.

The B’s did manage a couple of really good victories, chasing down 200 against Glengarry, and last week’s victory versus Gormandale, where the two veterans 9ers and Dash took a combined 8/48 and made 80 runs between them.

While it’s the end of the season for the A’s and B’s, the C’s continue on in their pursuit for back to back flags, which will be the Club’s fourth C Grade Premiership if successful, and 17th Premiership overall. Yesterday It was a top of the ladder clash in the C’s, where an Imps victory would see them leapfrog Students into top spot. Amazingly, the game finished in a tie, meaning the highest we can now finish is 2nd, and presumably a clash with a red hot Josh Dunkley led Yarram C Grade side. Interestingly, the last time we played in a tie was also against Ex Students C Grade back in Round 7 of the 2019/20 season. Jordy Anderson top scored with 68, with Johnny Downs (3/23), Mick McNulty (2/21) and Eggy (2/34) the pick of the bowlers.

The big question now is whether Eggy will remain the bride or become the bridesmaid in terms of the League bowling aggregate, clinging on to a 1 wicket lead, without the ability to add on to that tally next week. Good luck to skipper Mick and the C Grade team in their semi final in a couple of weeks.

In terms of the Club’s position off field, we have gone from having the worst facilities/Clubrooms by far, to some of the best facilities/Clubrooms in not only the TDCA, but the surrounding area. A measure of these improvements can be seen by the increase in representative cricket we are hosting, and we are actually hosting the Under 15 Semi Final tomorrow, and then the Under 15 Grand Final the following Sunday. We’ll be running a canteen on both of these days, so if you’ve got a bit of time tomorrow, please consider helping out in the canteen for an hour or two.

Aside from the Under 15 finals, here is a list of events coming up in the Imperials calendar,

Saturday 5th of March – C Grade Semi Final. Opponent & Venue unknown at this stage

Sunday 6th of March – Devils Drawat the Clubrooms. Tickets are still available at $30

Saturday 12th of March – C Grade Grand Final, if we’re successful in the semi final.

Thursday 17th of March – Junior Presentation Night at the Clubrooms.

Saturday 26th of March – Senior Presentation Night at the Traralgon RSL